Weapon Proficiency

Why carry a sword if you cannot use it well?

Each army had its own training methods. Nations with hoplite-heavy armies believed dancing and athletics were sufficient to prepare a man for battle. Roman generals took a slightly different view. Legionaries trained with a wooden sword, twice the weight of a battle weapon, against a wooden post. They would train for hours, practising stabs, thrusts and feints against their immobile opponents. This would then progress to fencing practice with other recruits, using swords with covered tips, before the finely-honed weapon skills were taken into full mock battles.